PLEASE NOTE: No political party shall be registered during the period commencing on the day of the issue of the writ for Parliamentary election and ending on the day on which the writ is returned.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERING A POLITICAL PARTY

Please read these instructions carefully before submitting an application form – which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page – to register a political party.

A. Important Notice for all Applicants

1. All applications to be submitted in hard copy only to the Registrar of Political Parties at Fijian Elections Office, 59-63 High Street, Toorak, Suva.

2. All applicants, members, office holders of a proposed political party must be registered as a voter under the Electoral (Registration of Voters) Act 2012.

3. A person shall not be a member or an office holder of more than one proposed political party or political party registered under the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 (“Act”).

4. No person shall be an applicant(s) or member(s) or an office holder(s) of a proposed political party who is an undischarged bankrupt or has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for more than 6 months in the past 5 years preceding the date of the application for registration or in the 5 years preceding the date when he or she applied to become an office holder(s) of the political party.

5. The proposed political party must have at least 5000 members – 2000 from the Central Division, 1750 members from the Western Division, 1,000 members from the Northern Division and 250 members from the Eastern Division.

6. All proposed political parties and registered political parties are also subject to the Code of Conduct (Frist Schedule) of the Act and must strictly adhere to its provisions.

7. Public Officer

a) “Public Officer” means any person:-

i. holding any office in or as a member of a statutory authority, a commission, or a board established by or continued in existence by any written law;

ii. a judge, magistrate or an office of any court or tribunal established by written law;

iii. public servants, the Fiji Police Force, Fiji Corrections Services or the Republic of Fiji Military Forces; or

iv. who is an elected or appointed officer of a trade union registered under the Employment Relations Act 2007, or any federal, congress, council or affiliation of trade unions, or of any federation, congress, council or affiliation of employers.

b) “Public Officer” does not include the:–

i. President;

ii. Prime Minister;

iii. A Minister;

iv. The Leader of Opposition; or

v. A Member of Parliament.

c) A “Public Officer” must resign from its respective office prior to application under the Act.

d) A person disqualified from holding public office under any written law is not eligible to be an applicant or a member or an office holder of a proposed political party registered under this Act.

8. All political parties must maintain offices in each Division in Fiji and maintain records of its activities in each office.

9. The Registered Officer of the proposed political party must also be an applicant.

10. Appeals against the Registrars decision for registration or non-registration may be made to the High Court within 14 days from the date of the decision.

B. Instructions for Preparing and Submitting an Application

1. All applications for registration must be made to the Registrar.

2. Application fee is FJD$5005.00 per application and must be paid by way of bank cheque payable to the Supervisor of Elections.

3. The application must be signed by at least 5 applicants, all of whom must be members of the proposed political party. [Please note that if there are more than 5 applicants, refer to Schedule 4].

4. The proposed political party must have a symbol.

5. The use of an abbreviation or acronym of the name of the proposed political party is optional.

6. Name of the proposed political party;

a) must be in English language;

b) should be 5 words or less;

c) the abbreviation or acronym of the name or symbol should not be obscene or offensive;

d) the abbreviation or acronym of the name or the symbol should not be the same as another political party that is registered under the Act or that has applied for registration under the Act and the application has been received by the Registrar and has not yet been refused by the Registrar;

e) the abbreviation or acronym of the name or the symbol should not so nearly resemble the name, or an abbreviation or acronym of the name or the symbol of another political party that is registered under the Act or that has applied for registration under this Act and the application has been received by the Registrar and has not yet been refused by the Registrar, that it is likely to be confused with or mistaken for that name, or an abbreviation or acronym of the name, or symbol as the case may be;

f) should not comprise of the word “Independent”; and

g) the abbreviation or acronym of the name of the proposed political party should reflect the actual name of the proposed political party.

NOTE:* If the above Instructions or any part therein is not complied with, the proposed political party’s application will be rejected.

* It is essential that all other requirements in the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 (which may not form part of the application form and supporting documents) are to be followed.